A New Hope
by Wendish
Summary: Booth and Brennan fly back from their honeymoon, full of banter. Happy Halloween!


_Created October 2013 - I don't own these characters as made famous by the TV show, Bones. Love them anyway. All the rest that follows is my feeble attempt to keep time in between broadcasts and Razztaztic, Threesquares, and Covalent Bond postings._

_Given the nature of this story, I feel that I must also disclaim that I don't own American Airlines, any rights to songs by Soul II Soul or Fountains of Wayne. I don't own any of the characters from StarWars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, or The Mummy. Oh, and I don't own VGo, but I'm pretty sure that I'll buy stock in IVCi if they ever choose to go public..._

_A/N - 10/30/2013. Confession: I have been struggling for a month with the next chapter of Collide because I was conflicted as to whether or not to introduce a sinister Pelant paragraph into the otherwise delightfully pleasant story. And, being the Evil Genius that she is, I was inspired by Covalent Bond's Absolute Faith to scuttle the Pelant arc in Collide, and go full force with the most ridiculously over-the-top Bones Conspiracy story as a completely separate entity. I look forward to you hating it, but it has to be done, especially since I'm re-reading Milton's Paradise Lost to inform it. Mind you, Paradise Lost one of my favorite reads from high school.** Was**. Apparently I had less distractions in high school. Well, it was before the internet..._

_Perfect segue: According to Mashable, I am a "Sidetracker" Procrastinator. In order for me to forge ahead and wrap up Collide, and move forward with Conspiracy Theory (working title), I must expunge all of the current-state shiny happy B&B thoughts from my mind. The following is an effort to do so._

_This story is dedicated to GRC73, who enjoyed my Admiral Akbar reference in Two More Sleeps. In the US, Samsung has this amusing Star Wars-character themed commercial (the baby hanging off of Jabba the Hutt in the gold bikini gets me every time). Check it out on YouTube, and blame it for my story!_

_Happy Halloween!_

* * *

**_EZE_**

First class or not, Seeley Booth was not at all excited about this particular flight home. Twelve hours, customs and two airports taking him and his new bride away from their honeymoon bliss. Their mostly naked honeymoon bliss.

Back to DC.

Back to their regular lives.

Back to reality.

_Dammit._

Now he had Soul II Soul in his head.

_Sigh._

"C'mon Bones! Let's turnaround before it's too late…Let's take a few more days, huh?" He gently thumbed the exposed, and lightly tanned nape of his wife's neck as the pair sat in the American Airlines Admirals Club lounge.

Brennan ignored her doting spouse as she watched email messages flash onto her tablet. Having been out of the country for eight days, she frowned at the size of the new messages popping up in her inbox.

True to her matron-of-honor/best friend/sister-from-another-mister responsibilities, Angela had threatened _everyone_ not to send Brennan any communications. And, by everyone, she meant everyone: the Jeffersonian, the FBI, Bren's publisher, accountant, agent, charitable foundations, even Max had been given clear and explicit instruction that no life-threatening communications were to be sent to either Bren or Booth during their honeymoon. And, save the interrupting case, everyone had honored the "you-send-you-die" threat. Only calls to Christine and Parker were permitted.

...The size – _not number of_ – but sizes of the messages she had received, were Brennan's concern. Much to Angela's credit, Bren had only received seven email messages – each dated with today's date.

Brennan wondered if Angela, computer genius that she was, had re-directed her emails. But her question was answered immediately upon reading her first email message from the irksome Oliver Wells.

From his preamble, it appeared that Mr. Wells had concluded that since today was the day that Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth would begin traveling back to DC, and since Buenos Aires time was an hour ahead, and since both were expected to make an appearance at the Jeffersonian Halloween Ball tomorrow evening, their honeymoon was officially at its end. Therefore, Mr. Wells felt justified in delivering his message.

Strategically, Oliver's message was comprised of a series of attached email messages – authored, but not sent – from the past eight days.

With Mr. Wells' inaugural send, it appeared that the other interns followed suit with a similar strategy. Messages received next from Daisy, Fisher, Finn, Wendell, Arastoo, and finally Angela. Brennan snickered at Oliver's end-run around Angela's stern instructions.

_Perhaps Mr. Wells does have some tolerable qualities: leadership. _ She mused, considering how nice it would be to steal away for the afternoon to make love with her husband while her very capable – yet exasperating – intern led a crime scene recovery_._

She closed her eyes, sighing softly at the thought. _I must to suggest to Booth that he work on his backfill…._

Booth grinned, thinking that Brennan's laugh and hum were in response to him. He pulled her back against her seat and towards him, kissing the fallen wisps of hair above her right ear. "Yeah? You wanna stay?"

She turned to him with a look of mild shock and disbelief. Shock at how ludicrous his question was, and disbelief that she had forgotten that Booth had planned to grow Hayes Flynn into his successor. But Booth didn't know what she was thinking...

"Of course I want to stay" she asserted – frowning – because she had allowed a difficult memory to sneak into their blissful time together.

Brennan had promised Booth that she'd leave "the shitty stuff in the pot at the office for the Squints to flush." Although quite an unpleasant image, her visualization of it had helped her "behave" during their honeymoon to the point that Brennan wondered if they had set new records of dopamine production. Her consideration of how to test for their levels even caused the unpleasant image to resurface. She had decided that she would use the image even after their honeymoon.

The image was a powerful reminder. _And I've always thought of myself as a kinesthetic learner, _she thought to herself.

"You had once mentioned that when you go on vacation with someone, you joke about never going home" she leaned in to kiss him so as to distract him from her distraction. "Were it not for Christine, I would vehemently agree with your suggestion." She placed her left hand high on his warm thigh. "This has been a very good, very lovely time away Booth. Even with the unplanned case…" she winced. "I have very much enjoyed being 'stupid' with you."

Her slender fingers slid up his torso, around his neck and into his hair. Her lips instinctively found his for a meaningful, yet publicly appropriate kiss. They had become very good at this over the past week and change.

Booth chuckled softly at his highly literal bride, tugging at a misbehaving curl to the left of her beautiful smile. He lost himself in her eyes as she affectionately stroked his cheek. "Promise me that we'll make a habit of this, okay Bones?"

Even if she wanted to say 'no', her whole body vibrated with agreement – from her toes up to her nodding head. "Absolutely." She sighed, searching for the right words. "I promise that I will work with Dr. Saroyan and Dr. Edison to arrange a schedule whereby we can steal away for both short and long trips away to destinations that may be nominally interesting, but only serve as a cover for our primary intent, which is to engage in copious amounts of lovemaking. But you have to commit to a similar plan, Booth…." She encouraged, hopeful that he would not be reminded of Agent Flynn.

Booth shook his head, enjoying that he had romanced Temperance Brennan to this current haze of pliancy. "Done. And done." He bragged, pecking her cheeks, attempting to slip his arms around her waist. And maybe he brushed briefly against her left breast.

Brennan leaned further into him at the contact, but then pulled away abruptly to save the tablet from slipping from her lap.

Booth cleared his throat and shifted in his seat, thinking that Divine Intervention was reminding him to not grope his very grope-able wife in a public place. And, as if on cue, three nuns entered the Admirals Club. He sighed, looking upwards for forgiveness.

Brennan watched her husband's discomfort at the entrance of the three women. Smiling, she teased "you know, now that we're married, they can't beat you with a ruler for having impure thoughts about me, Booth."

Seeley Booth blushed, suddenly finding all of his clothes to be too warm, too tight, and his Bones way to close. He shifted away from his partner, even if only a tad, and shushed his lady. "Bones!" he warned "Oh, yes they can! Now, behave! These are women of God!"

Brennan scoffed. "These are women who have traveled enough to have earned Admiral Club status, Booth! How is _that_ serving your God?" she challenged.

_Hooboy. She had been so good. _ He reminded himself silently.

And she had. Brennan had willfully accompanied her husband to various Catholic churches in Argentina, finding herself drawn into the architecture and cultural history behind their destinations.

_Too good to be true._ He sighed.

Urgent to find an alternate topic with which to redirect her attention, his head gestured to the tablet. "Uh, did Angela send pictures of Christine?" Again he cleared his throat.

Mildly annoyed by her husband, but also as equally missing their little girl, Brennan looked at the senders of the seven messages. "There is a message from Angela, and…yes! There are pictures of Christine attached…." She drifted, "and quite a long message…" she observed.

"Pictures first!" Booth commanded, not really interested in Angela's blathering. "You can read her message on the plane" he explained, excited to see their baby girl as well.

"Very well." Brennan agreed, clicking through the slideshow of photos. "Oh! There are some photos here from the wedding! Wasn't she beautiful?" Brennan beamed at their pouty flower girl.

"Aw, that's sweet! Heh! Our little girl! Almost as beautiful as her mama." Booth returned his arm to around Brennan's shoulder.

Brennan glared at Booth. "Almost? She has the genetic advantage of both of us Booth! I'm certain that her beauty will far surpass my own."

"Not possible, Bones. You're perfect. I'm going to have to keep Christine's boyfriends – "

"Or girlfriends…"

Booth pressed his lips together, calculating how many more years the couple had left to smooth out what was sure to be the most awkward sex talk ever.

"_Whoever_…. away from you Bones. You're 'Stacy's Mom', the ultimate MILF."

"And I'm married to the most charming, attractive, physically appealing man that I know. I doubt that I will want to stray from you, Booth."

"Awww…." He pecked her lips again, then pulled back. "Wait – so are you saying that if you meet a _more_ charming, attractive, physically appealing man…"

Brennan rolled her eyes as she turned back towards the pictures "no sense worrying about what we can't control." She hid a smirk from her stunned husband.

Booth shook off her tease, and the pair returned to looking at pictures of their adorable progeny from the wedding and their week away.

* * *

_**EZE to MIA**_

"Ding!"

Like Pavlov's dog, many of the passengers on the flight to Miami (first to MIA, then on to DCA) obeyed the permissive cue to allow them access back to their electronic devices. Like the other minions, Brennan grabbed her tablet.

She regarded her mate as the device powered on. In the rare instances that both traveled together by first class, Booth insisted on sitting in the aisle seat in order for him to be ready to address any "issues" that may arise on the flight. This fact made Brennan sneer as her Protector continued to snore lightly beside her.

She watched his broad chest expand and contract with his patterned breaths, and she unconsciously began to breathe in the same rhythm. Her legendary self-control betrayed her again; she could not help but reach out to place her hand over his heart to touch him.

And as always, he was immediately alert to her touch. With a small hop, Booth was awake.

Immediately reassured by her apologetic smile, he stretched, and took a surveying glance around the cabin. _Just to be Booth_.

"I am sorry." She whispered, continuing to stroke his chest.

He grinned. "Hey. Never apologize for wanting to keep your hands all over me, Bones." He threaded her delicate hand in his to kiss her knuckles, and then replaced it on his chest.

The best-selling author smiled sheepishly, unable to form words to express the affection that she felt for chosen mate.

Eyeing his wife knowingly, he stroked her hand, and nudged her into another subject. "So, you checking to see what Angela has to say?"

She looked down at the tablet, reluctantly pulling her hand from Booth. "Uh, yes." She shifted, leaning towards him.

Booth sipped the orange juice at his side while Brennan read. "So what's been going on? Hodgins blow anything up? Christine and Michael engaged yet?" he joked.

"No, but Hodgins has been trying to teach Michael and Christine names of different types of spiders. Christine seems very receptive to his teachings."

Booth's body deflated slightly, resigned to the fact that even in his own household, he was fated to be outnumbered by nerds. He had already lost Parker.

"…she still wants us to have bachelor/bachelorette parties…." she added.

"Well THAT's not gonna happen." Booth declared.

Brennan glared at her spouse. Booth shifted. "…Uh, for me. I mean. Uh, if you girls want to go hooting and hollerin' to Vegas or New Orleans and let Angela cover your body with penis paraphernalia while you let skeevy guys take body shots off you, so be it…"

Brennan winced. "That's not what she will have planned….Wait, do you think that's what she has_ planned_?" she said warily.

"Well" he leaned toward her. "When you and Ange went out gallivanting back in the day – what did you two do?" he asked, half-sarcastically, and half-curious.

Brennan frowned, thoughtful in recollection. "We would go out to, galleries, museums, restaurants, nightclubs and bars…" she bit her lip.

"And…?" he probed, amused by the order of her admission.

"On occasion – we would - meet men and take them home to copulate with them." She stated definitively, but felt inexplicably uncomfortable.

Booth squeezed his eyes shut in an effort to erase the husband hat and put on the investigator hat. He took a deep breath, and continued "and by 'on occasion', do you mean 'once a year', 'once every six months', or 'once a month?'

_Once every six months. Come on once every six months..._

Brennan stalled "you really don't seem like you want to discuss this, Booth."

"Bones…."

She took a deep breath. "By 'on occasion', I mean that on the occasion that we would go out socially, we would bring men home."

Booth swallowed. _Just. Fucking. Great. _"Every time?" he squeaked.

Brennan frowned, "well not every time."

Booth sighed as his wife continued "I can think of three specific times where we did not…"

Booth groaned. _Three times. These two have been friends for ten years. Jesus._

Brennan defended. "Well it's not like Angela and I went out _all _the time, Booth! Maybe three or four times a month."

He glared at his wife in disbelief.

"And remember, I was with Peter for about a year, so that period of time doesn't factor. And of course, you're well aware of my time with Sully. And you know that I chose to be celibate for several years..."

Booth brightened "Oh so you and Little Petey didn't spend too much time between the sheets?" He had met the turd once, and to this day, he couldn't stand the thought of that bozo's hands all over his Bones.

She looked at him, confused. "No, we had sex _all_ the time" she grinned "and there was nothing 'little'…"

Booth coughed loudly, pointing toward the tablet. "So what else is going on back in DC?"

Brennan scoffed at her irrationally jealous mate, turning back to the message, searching for something more neutral. "Hodgins has procured our costumes for the Halloween ball tomorrow."

"Procured? Huh? Why aren't you going to be Wonder Woman?" he asked petulantly. He was looking very forward to peeling that little number off of her tomorrow night.

Brennan sighed.

_She_ was looking forward to the Batman costume that she had recently purchased for Booth. Even though he was not fond of role play, she enjoyed exploiting his fascination with superheroes. And the Batman costume was a perfect outfit for her carnal interests, especially since Booth didn't require the additional muscle padding that so many other Batmans needed.

"No, the TV and Film group is organizing this year's event and has stipulated that groups organize their costumes around famous ensemble casts."

Thinking that he knew where this was going, Booth snapped. "No way! No! I am NOT doing it!"

Brennan chuckled. "No Booth – Hodgins did not select Buffy the Vampire Slayer…or _Angel_."

Although she had never seen either television program, Brennan had discovered that her partner shared a significant physical similarity to the lead vampire character that had appeared on both shows. What she had also found out last year was how uncomfortable this fact made her mate.

This fact came into glaring light last Halloween, after several rather…_invested_…neighborhood moms requested that Booth portray the Angel character for the neighborhood festivities. Instead of taken pictures of him spooking the neighborhood kids, Booth found himself trapped by an endless line of very handsy mothers who just _needed_ one-or-two-or-three shots with the handsome demon.

And while Seeley Booth was known for being a very charming Ladies Man, he was not at all amused by the obsessive gawking and inappropriate behavior of some of his female neighbors. (The lawn chair ladies who purposely parked their carcasses right across the street from the house when he did yard work was a bit too much).

"It's not funny, Bones! Mrs. Korbita grabbed my boys!" he hissed, recalling the unpleasant experience of removing his 64 year-old neighbor's hand from a precariously high perch of his upper thigh. "You could have been more helpful!" he fussed.

Brennan countered, defending "If you'll recall, I was demonstrating my air hockey technique to Mr. Weber and Donovan, Booth! They had an air hockey tournament for which to prepare."

Booth huffed. "They were NOT interested in your air hockey technique, Bones." Booth recalled rescuing the mother of his child from the game room at the Donovan house. She had drawn quite a male – and female – audience.

"What do you mean? They said they wanted pointers on how to best angle their shots to score goals…."

"Hmmph! They wanted _your_ pointers" he frowned, remembering - somewhat fondly - how full her breasts were when she was still breastfeeding Christine. And, how generously that extra fullness added to how they spilled out of her costume last year. "There was no air hockey tournament, Bones! They were checking you out."

Her lip curled in amusement. "They were?"

Again, he looked at her in disbelief. "Do you really not know what you do to men?"

She smiled. "I don't care about that, or them. I just care about what I do to you, Booth."

He leaned in to kiss her "good answer, Babe."

She kissed him back "I will try not to be so sexually appealing in the future, and I promise that I will remind the neighborhood moms that I was recently accused of murder, and that I have killed in the past."

And on cue, the flight attendant came to request their meal order.

Guiltily, Booth explained sheepishly "Uh, we're in law enforcement."

The flight attendant nodded. "Oh yes, I recognized you straight away Agent Booth. You and Dr. Brennan are very well known. I love your books Dr. Brennan!"

"Thank you!" Dr. Brennan responded, somewhat dejected.

Once the flight attendant departed with their order, Booth eyed his wife. "What's wrong, Bones?"

She sighed. "I fear that the effectiveness of my publicist has diminished our opportunities to perform undercover work. We get recognized frequently, Booth." She worried.

"You may be right, Bones. But, that's a good thing, right? That means that you're successful." He encouraged. "And there will come a day that we will have to pass the baton over to a new team of investigators. As Christine gets older and involved in various activities, our time will have to be more focused on coordinating around her schedule." He stretched, secretly excited about giving his poor body a break from chasing perps.

"You're making sense" she nodded. "Earlier today, I was considering how to accelerate transitioning certain activities to the interns in order to avail me more time with family." Her eyes darted away from his, slightly guilty that her earlier thought had not included their progeny. "But not too many. I enjoy our time together out in the field, Booth."

He squeezed her knee, pleased that Bones was at lease agreeable to the idea. He thought for a moment. "You know, we can still be out in the field together, when you go on digs and stuff, Bones."

She laughed. "Do you know how impatient you are at crime scenes, Booth? What would you do at a dig site where remains may or may not even exist? I can visualize you threatening archaeologists…" she chortled.

Booth joined in the laughter, and with a sly grin, he corrected. "Well, maybe _you_ play with rocks and bones on the dig, and Christine, maybe Parker and I go exploring the region." He shifted, excited about the idea.

Brennan's forehead knotted. "But how would that be us spending time together out in the field?"

Booth licked his lips. "Well, a coupla times a day, we'd stop in and check up on you, make sure that you took a break, and had something to eat." He brushed his nose against hers. "And, if Parker isn't with us, we can ask one of your flunkies to mind Christine while I take you to the back of the jeep for some lovin.'" He waggled his eyes.

The fire in Brennan's eyes flashed as she nuzzled Booth back, and then kissed him. Briefly she pressed her lips together. "I wouldn't want to leave Christine with an unreliable flunky, Booth."

"Fine." He whispered against her lips. "We'll bring Sweets." His grinned broadened into a classic Seeley Booth.

Brennan chuckled. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the flight attendant approaching with hot towels. Straightening, the pair prepared for their meal.

* * *

**MIA TO DCA**

With about 20 minutes left before their flight landed at Reagan, Booth remembered. "Oh, yeah! Hey – what's the costume theme? Are we doing Bone of Contention? Reichs & Lister?:" he teased. "Too on the nose?"

Brennan rolled her eyes before brightening with excitement, confident that she knew exactly how Booth would react to what she had to share.

"Star Wars."

"Yeah?" he beamed.

"Yes." She affirmed.

"Ha! Fantastic! Well, I know I'm Han Solo…" he asserted.

"Definitely." Brennan eyed her husband, hungrily. Familiar with the form fitting henley, vest, tight pants and low-slung belt that he would be wearing, she was looking forward to watching him in motion. "I, of course, will be Princess Leia and Christine will be a pa-du-wan? Is that how you pronounce it?"

"Pad-A-wan. It's a Jedi apprentice." Booth corrected. "You should know that Bones! Parker was relentless with your Star Wars immersion!" He was distracted, thinking of how cute his little girl would be a little Jedi robe.

"Which Leia?"

"Princess Leia, Booth." Brennan retorted.

"No Bones! Cinnamon Bun hairdo Leia? Or White Hoth outfit Leia? Gold bikini Leia?" he prayed.

"Oh!" she chuckled. "Hodgins procured all three ensembles." Booth cheered, but then frowned as he noted Brennan's contraction. "But Angela will be in the gold bikini."

"Aww…" he groaned, slamming his head back into the seat. "Why?" he whined.

"I still have my choice between Cinnamon Bun and White Hoth, Booth!" she assured him. "It was Hodgins plan that all three of us – me, Cam and Angela – play one of the Leia roles, but knowing that Angela would pick the bikini, Cam declined. Cam likes to wear provocative attire for Halloween." she stated matter-of-factly.

Booth's memory betrayed him as it conjured up the image of a circa-1994 Cam dressed in Sharon Stone's "interrogation outfit" from Basic Instinct – and the fun evening that ensued. He cleared his throat and squirmed. "Uh, yeah. She does."

Brennan eyed her mate, aware that what he was thinking was not something that she wanted to know. "Yes. Well she's fashioned a sexy version of Lando Calrisian's attire. Apparently, she was not a fan of the Star Wars theme at all, knowing how few alluring outfits for women there were from which to choose."

"How about Padme? Princess Amidala?" he suggested.

"Angela said that neither she nor Cam would be caught dead in an outfit from Episodes One, Two or Three. I assume that she's being hyperbolic, but I've never seen those films."

"Nor do you ever have to. Just take my and Parker's word on that." he assured her. "So why did Cam change her mind?"

Brennan paused for what Booth assumed to be a moment to recall. With a side grin, she responded "Hodgins sent Mr. Vaziri over to Cam's wearing _his_ costume." Her grin broadened into a full, aroused smile. "He's going to be Boba Fett." Her eyebrow arched. "Heh, heh."

Booth would have appreciated the tricky way in which Hodgins convinced Cam were it not for the fact that - of all the squints -_ his_ lady was most attracted to Arastoo Vaziri. Given how snappish and mean Brennan generally was with him, it was an impression that Booth had picked up on years ago, and was by validated by his wife during a "last hurrah" conversation. He arched his eye in annoyance. "Really, Bones? Boba Fett does it for you? The dude who chased down Han Solo?"

Brennan whined "According to Angela's email, it's a very well-fitting costume! And," she bit her lip again, intending to pay back her husband for what she was certain had been a prurient thought about her boss. "I'm certain that Arastoo wore it very well. I look forward to seeing him in it tomorrow. Heh, heh!"

Booth crossed his arms and shook his head, bothered – not jealous – bothered that another man seemed to have charmed all the women in his life. Except Caroline. "Hmmph! You extended the invite to Caroline, right?"

Brennan smiled. "Yes. She's agreed to be Yoda. Quite fitting I must add. Especially since my father will be playing the Emperor…"

"Oh, that's awesome, Bones! This is going to be great! I'd LOVE to see a battle between Yoda Julian and Emperor Keenan…."

"Caroline certainly has a way with my father." Brennan shook her head. "And, your mother."

Booth cracked up, for the first time since the wedding thinking about introducing his mom Marianne to his mother, Caroline. "You know, I love my Mom, but there was something wonderful about seeing her squirm under Caroline's interrogation. Ahhhhhh! She really has been like a mom to the both of us, huh? Caroline, I mean?"

Brennan pondered Booth's comment. "Considering the traditional societal stereotypes that one applies to the role of a mother…yes, she has. And Christine definitely prefers Caroline to Marianne…"

"Christine _only_ wanted Caroline at our wedding" Brennan recalled. "She was cranky all day until she crawled up onto Memère Liney's lap. I am pleased that Caroline was amenable to care for Christine with such affection. She can be rather disagreeable at times. Caroline, I mean."

Booth stared at his disagreeable wife in mock disbelief. "Yeah, she can be difficult to get along with at times."

"I feel as if you're being sarcastic right now." She eyed him dubiously.

"What me? Noooooooo!" he smirked. "So what about everyone else? I just makes sense that Hodgins is Obi Wan." Brennan shook her head. "So, does Sweets get to live out his Luke Skywalker fantasy?"

"Uh, no." she snickered. "Wendell will be Jedi Luke and Mr. Abernathy will be portraying Tatooine Luke. Dr. Edison will be Mace Windu, and Fisher will be Chewbacca." Brennan boasted, proud of knowledge of all of the characters of Parker's favorite sci-fi storyline. "Dr. Wells will portray Darth Maul, which I'm rather looking forward to seeing, given my understanding of the significant makeup that accompanies the costume. But Sweets….Well, let's just say that he has been assigned a character fitting with his personality…" she smirked.

Booth processed the hint and exclaimed "Ha! He's Jar-Jar! So annoying! That's great!"

"No Booth, he's C3-PO, the translator!" she hit him on the lap, surprised at his incorrect guess. "Of course, he had wanted to be Luke Skywalker, but he was too tall for the costumes. Angela says he was willing to portray Anankin instead. That is, until he learned that both Daisy and Agent Sparling were going to play Padme. In Angela's words, he wanted no part of it." She gossiped.

"Heh, heh! Poor bastard. 3PO fits. He's irritating too." Booth rubbed his neck. "So no one wanted to be Darth Vader?"

"Oh, Assistant Director Hacker will be playing Darth Vader. Angela says that he's bringing Catherine."

"My Catherine? Catherine Bryar?" he inquired.

Brennan raised her eyebrows.

"You know what I mean Bones."

"Yes, Dr. Bryar. She is portraying Padme as Princess Amidala."

"Catherine and Hacker. Hmmph. I had no idea that they were seeing each other."

"Well, it stands to reason that if he was attracted to me and you were attracted to me and her, than Andrew may also be attracted to Catherine as well! It's my understanding that they have been dating since a few months before we returned from Maluku and Afghanistan."

"Wow!"

"I'm surprised that you're not aware of this."

"Well, Bones. I'm not as big a gossip as you are…"

"Hey!"

"You know that it's true! You may disguise it as 'pursuit of knowledge' or 'engaging in social discourse' or whatever other mumbo jumbo you try to wrap it in, but you're still a girl that way." He snickered at her growl. "And also, most of the gossip in my department has been about you and me. When you took off for Maluku, AD Hacker became a non-topic."

"Hmmm. Makes sense. We have created quite a storyline for our co-workers to focus upon irrationally." She observed.

"Yes we have Bones. And we're just getting started."

* * *

_**Back to Life. Back to Reality. **_

"C'mon Bones! Let's go!" Booth walked into Brennan's office, dressed as the rougish Han Solo with his precious little Ewok in tow. "We don't want to miss the kid's parade, right Christine?" he swayed his amused daughter in his arms. "We want to know which Leia that Mommy selected, don't we?"

"I'll be right out, Booth!" she called.

Booth sighed.

_She always did this._

He knew that she was dressed, but that she wanted to make an entrance._"Just like her mother did."_ Max had shared. _"Ruthie would always make me wait."_

Booth brought Christine over to the iguana tank to sneak a peek at Mommy's pet. Bringing chair for her to stand on. Christine peered into the tank, nose, forehead and mouth pressed firmly to the window.

"So hey, why did you tell me that Christine was going to be a Padawan, Bones? I just picked her up at daycare, and she's an Ewok! She's a cute Ewok, but…."

"Christine, Honey! Don't press your face into the glass" Brennan whined, alerting her husband and daughter to her presence.

Booth turned, maintaining a firm grip on their child. He smiled at his lovely wife.

"Because Booth, given my outfit, it just made better sense for Christine to be an Ewok." She fidgeted as she watched his examining eyes scope her from head to toe.

Brennan had finger-combed out the French braids that she had worn all day to achieve the soft wavy locks that framed her face. Her hair was pulled back from falling into her eyes by a natural-colored headband woven with a light colored ribbon.

Booth's smile broadened as he continued his journey down her body. She wore a gauzy khaki colored peasant dress, equipped with a generous neckline, a thin faux leather belt slung low on her hips and a billowy skirt of layered fabric with several revealing slits that kissed her mid thigh. On her feet, she wore one of her favorite pairs of brown over the knee boots.

In front of Seeley Booth, was another junior high school fantasy.

"Ewok Village Leia". He stated simply.

She smiled shyly at his admiring gaze. "You had seemed disappointed that my Leia costume was not to be more revealing. And, while this is modest in comparison to Gold Bikini Leia, I still expect that you find it alluring." She negotiated, coming to stand by her mate and child.

"I had one of my assistants search for it this afternoon. I concluded that this Leia and her relationship with Han Solo best represents the an analogous status of my relationship with you. Happy and blissfully in love." She offered breathily.

Booth combed his hand through her hair before cupping her face. "You look amazing Bones." He kissed her softly.

She moaned into his mouth at the feel of his soft lips pressed to hers, before interjecting "even though Hoth Leia had a blaster" she pouted. "And you know how much I like being armed." She teased.

"I'm your gun, Baby. Remember that." He asserted.

"Yes, you have _your _blaster." She conceded, surreptitiously copping a feel "and the force is strong with you…"

"Bones!" he yelped, gesturing to their daughter. "You don't want your little Ewok learning that move from Mommy, now do you? We can NOT get her kicked out of daycare again." He teased.

Brennan rolled her eyes, and then greeted her furry child, once again amused by how adorable she looked. She picked up Christine. "I'm sure she'll pick up more inappropriate actions from Mrs. Korbita than me, Booth."

"Good one, Bones!" Booth hugged both his girls. "C'mon. Let's hit the children's parade. I want my kid to win the cutest costume award."

"It's a shame that Parker's returned to England. He would have loved to have participated." She frowned. "He would be so proud of my clever decision to be Ewok Village Leia."

"You know what? It's only like nine o'clock over there right now! Let's Skype him in!" Booth suggested, guiding his pair out of the office.

"Oooh! I have an even better idea: VGo! Egyptology just procured a virtual conferencing robot that we could requisition! They won't need it for their costumes – they're doing The Mummy. Talk about 'to the nose'! Ha!"

"On the nose, Babe."

"Oh, okay – on the nose! But more importantly, Parker could navigate the party independent of our controls! He could be our R2D2, Booth! He'll love it, and we'll be sure to win the team contest!"

Booth grinned conspiratorially. He loved Competitive Bones. "God I love you Dr. Brennan - slash - Mrs. Brennan-Booth."

Brennan returned a smile as they headed toward the Egyptology wing.

"I prefer Mrs. Skywalker-Solo…."


End file.
